


Natsu's Operation

by meguri_aite



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Collaboration, Gen, courtesy of made-of-coffee, with words and pictures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-29
Updated: 2014-06-29
Packaged: 2018-02-06 00:46:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1838218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meguri_aite/pseuds/meguri_aite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hinata and Kageyama try to thank Yachi for tutoring them, Natsu strategizes, and Yachi gets invited to a matsuri.</p>
<p>  <i>“Hey, Kageyama.”</i></p>
<p>
  <i>“Mph?”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“I think we should take Yachi-san somewhere, to thank her for tutoring us.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Mmm.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“I know! We both scored well enough on make-up tests. Unbelievable!”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Your forty points are unbelievable.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“You should be talking, mister forty-and-a-half points!”</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Natsu's Operation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yonha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yonha/gifts).



> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, [SHIN](http://yonha.tumblr.com/) DEAR! [made-of-coffee](http://made-of-coffee.tumblr.com/) and I made this collab fic for you, and even while I'm convinced the picture is the best part of it, maybe my struggle to write you something comforting wasn't entirely in vain, either. Anyway, have a good one, and may you never stop being awesome and cheering us with your awesome art! ♥
> 
> [made-of-coffee](http://made-of-coffee.tumblr.com/), teaming up with you is always great fun, but this fic especially owes you a lot <3
> 
> [throwingscissorsatinternets](http://throwingscissorsatinternets.tumblr.com/), thank you a lot for the beta again:)

“Hey, Kageyama.”

“Mph?”

“I think we should take Yachi-san somewhere, to thank her for tutoring us.”

“Mmm.”

“I know! We both scored well enough on make-up tests. Unbelievable!”

“Your forty points are unbelievable.”

“You should be talking, mister forty-and-a-half points!”

“It’s more than you scored, stupid Hinata!”

“It was enough! And anyway, next time I’ll do better than you, just you wait!!”

“If Yachi-san agrees to help us again.”

“Right! Yachi-san! Where would she want to go?”

“How would I know? Why are you asking me, you idiot?”

“Grrr! Fine, I’ll ask Natsu! Even she’d know more about it than you!”

“Whatever! Stupid Hinata.”

* * *

Natsu was concentrating very hard. She had an important task to do.

Because if she relaxed her grip even the littlest bit, nii-chan’s hair would slip between her fingers, and she would never be able to tie it with her best sparkly hair tie.

“Natsu, are you done playing yet?”

“Don’t fidget, nii-chan!” Her brother was awesome, but he didn’t understand how important it was to sit still when someone was doing your hair.

“Owww, don’t tug it so hard!” Hehe, that would show him. Satisfied, she gave it a second tug for good measure and continued her work.

Apparently, it worked, because for a few minutes nii-chan didn’t move much, so she was almost done. But then he spoke up again.

“Natsu, mmm, listen. You’re a girl, right? So do you know what kind of places girls like going to?”

Ooooooh. That was very new and very interesting, much more so than even the sparkliest hair tie.

“Are you taking someone out, nii-chan?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know where. What kind of places do girls like, anyway?”

Natsu’s chest swelled with pride. She loved her brother, but even he didn’t know everything, so of course he would need her advice with this. Nii-chan never really cared about girls before, so it was vitally important to get this right. Luckily, he asked just the right person!

“Maybe a gaming centre, mmm? Whaddya think?”

Horrified, Natsu shook her head. She definitely had her job cut out for her, nii-chan could not be trusted not to ruin his chances. Supervision, that was what he needed.

Quick, there had to be a way! Frantically, she looked around until she spotted the calendar with the next Saturday circled in red.

“Matsuri! Nii-chan, this week, the festival! Girls love festivals, yukatas, fireworks, candy apples, and - ” she brought up the argument that would absolutely convince her brother, “ - food!”

Of course, she was right.

“Whooaaaa, food! Takoyaki! Ikayaki! Dangooo! Kakigori! Kageyama!” With that, her brother leaped off the couch and ran to his room.

Natsu nodded to herself in satisfaction. Now, she needed a detailed plan to make Operation: Nii-chan’s Date a success.

* * *

Yachi Hitoka glanced at her watch for the fifth time in the last minute, double-checked the meeting place and time on her cell phone for the tenth time today, and wondered if she got the town wrong. Hinata didn’t mean the bus stop in his own town, did he? What if he did? Could she get there herself? What if she took the wrong bus and ended up in some other town in the mountains? What if the bus driver that day was feeling adventurous that day and decided to try a different route down an old abandoned road-

Her train of thought was interrupted by loud cries, which were coming from a different direction than she expected. But the voices were, undoubtedly, familiar, and in a few moments Hinata and Kageyama-kun appeared, racing each other down the road – incidentally, the same one they were supposed to take by bus.

“Yooooo, Yachi-san!” Hinata jumped and waved his hands in mid-air.

“Don’t just jump so suddenly while you’re running, stupid Hinata! You’ll get behind or worse, trip and fall! Hello, Yachi-san,” Kageyama-kun managed to both yell at Hinata and greet Yachi in one breath, as both boys covered the remaining distance to the bus stop neck to neck.

“Ahh, hello! I’m glad you’re here now, must mean I got the place right, after all,” Yachi laughed in relief.

Hinata fished for his cellphone in his bag, looked at the time, yelped and immediately bowed his head in apology.

“I’m sorry! Kageyama, you too – it’s your fault as well,” he hissed. “We’re both sorry!” He straightened up with a sheepish smile, and pointed at Kageyama-kun with accusation. “I was here half an hour early, hanging around, and he showed and started racing me to the bus stop- ”

“You started running first!”

“-and then we were racing-”

“-first to the top of this hill, and then the next-”

“-and then Kageyama said we should probably turn back-”

“-but you said not before running around that other crazy big hill, you stupid Hinata-”

“-it’s not so big! I ride around it every day, I would know! So it took us a while to get back! We lost track of time, sorry, Yachi-san!”

“It’s okay,” she laughed. Those two really got along well, she thought, even if it was less obvious to them than to everyone around. “Shall we go? The next bus should be in a minute.”

“Yesss! Tako-yaki, ika-yaki, tai-yaki…” Hinata jumped with excitement at every word, Kageyama scowled, and Yachi laughed once again. The festival promised to be fun.

 

“If you just keep waving your poi around like that, the paper will break before it even touches water!” Kageyama said, emphatically waving his own poi as if it was a ping-pong racket. Yachi followed its trajectory, which repeatedly threatened to reach the tip of Hinata’s nose, with great fascination and some concern. Would they become the first customers of this stall to break the poi before even getting a chance to use it? That in itself probably wasn’t very likely, but maybe the stall keeper would remember them as the first ever customers who broke the paper scoopers against each other’s faces? Maybe he kept a record of the worst failures, writing them down in a thick leather-bound volume? No, that would be impractical, so maybe a small notebook he kept under the counter?

“Have you ever held a poi before?” Hinata’s yelling broke through her bubble, and Yachi winced at his words and gave Kageyama a worried look, but Hinata rambled on with the same energy. “The paper on the scooper doesn’t break just from waving it in the air, see!”

“So what! Don’t just wave it so recklessly, stupid Hinata!” was the immediate response. “And timing is more important than speed anyway, you can be fast all you want, but if it’s not applied at the right moment, it’s pointless!”

Sheesh, it was a good thing those two were on the same wavelength, Yachi thought, seems she was getting worried for nothing again. They could yell at each other at the top of their lungs over every small thing, but at the same time they trusted each other not to throw insults aimed to truly hurt. She smiled and continued to watch the goldfish swim in loops in their small pool.

“Speed is more important, I’m telling you! If you want to catch the fish, you have to be faster than the fish!”

“Are you sure it’s faster and not stupider? I can’t tell from just looking at you.”

“Garrr, just look here!” Hinata crouched at the edge of the pool, then swung wildly once, breaking the surface of the water with a huge splash and sending the fish to cower neurotically at the opposite end of the pool.

“Hiiinataaaaaaa!!”

Yachi involuntarily hunched her shoulders, because with his plaid shirt stained dark with water Kageyama-kun looked positively murderous. She thought that this time around, they were certainly making it to the stall keeper’s little notebook, but instead of dying a grisly death from violent application of a goldfish scooper, Hinata laughed.

It was a full-bodied laugh that made him bend in half, make funny snorting little noises and point his finger weakly at Kageyama, trying and failing to say something. The contagious laugher made Yachi break into giggles, and Kageyama pull one of his surprised faces, with eyebrows raised and mouth twisted in a lopsided not-smile.

“Just… Look atcha!” Hinata managed to get out at last. “You’re…like a giant soggy poi yourself!”

“Whose fault do you think is that? Stupid Hinata! And anyway, you were wrong! I told you speed alone is not enough.”

“Whaaaa? Well, if you think you’re so smart, go and try to catch fish with your stupid timing!”

“I will, too!”

But before that could happen, the stall keeper approached them with a small plastic bag filled with water.

“Please wait a moment, the young lady here needs to collect her prize,” he said, handing the bag to Yachi, who was blushing and holding up her scooper with a bright red fish thrashing right in its center.

“Gwuaaaah, Yachi-san!” Hinata jumped to her side immediately, practically buzzing with excitement. “You caught one! Whoaa, it’s so shiny! You’re so good at this!! How did you do it so easily?”

“Um, I just scooped it up? Carefully?” Yachi laughed sheepishly. In fact, it was pretty easy to do once Hinata’s splashing around chased all of the fish to her end of the pool, but she didn’t have time to say it.

“Oooh, you’re so cool, Yachi!” Hinata grinned from ear to ear. “Wait a second,” he said, and then bolted somewhere so fast that Yachi had to blink a couple of times, wondering if spots really started dancing in front of her eyes or it was her imagination. Talking to Hinata felt a lot like playing under the hot sun – you would probably feel warm and excited most of the time, but your brain would be fried every so often as well.

“K-kageyama-kun?” she turned to him, but Kageyama seemed just as puzzled at her. And if her eyes weren’t deceiving her, he was trying to fan his shirt with the poi he was still holding, Yachi noted sympathetically.

“I guess we should wait for him here, then,” she said. The stall keeper helped her to put the fish in the plastic bag. The fish still seemed shell-shocked, but Yachi proudly thought it was still doing a damn good job of holding up for something that had literally been gaping like a fish out of water just a minute ago. She giggled to herself and patted the bag.

Before too long, and luckily, before Kageyama-kun could completely decimate his poor poi, Hinata was back, grinning manically, skipping, talking and trying to balance three cups of colorful shaved ice in his hands – all at the same time, too.

“Kakigori! With blueberry and strawberry syrup, my favourite kind,” he chirped excitedly. “It’s so crunchy! And slushy! And coooold! Basically, the best dessert at any festival, doncha think?”

“I’ll have strawberry then, thank you!” Yachi said, holding out her hand to get one of the two pink kakigori. The delicious brightness of the syrup compelled her, but then she jerked back her hand, saying “Oh, money! Hinata-kun, let me pay you back for it.”

She started fumbling in her pockets with one hand, trying not to move the other one too much – it still held the bag with the prize fish – and it was awkward enough on its own, but then Hinata moved in to either help her or stop her, it wasn’t clear which, but it most definitely nearly ended in a Great Kakigora Disaster. Which, luckily, was prevented by Kageyama, who moved just in time to catch two of the cups that tilted dangerously and threatened to spill all over Yachi’s clothes.

Hinata’s “Eep!” sounded in unison with Yachi’s “Eek!”, and Kageyama looked at them both with an expression of a juggler who suddenly found himself in a pool.

“Good catch, Kageyama!” Hinata beamed, completely unrepentant, and proceeded to stuff his mouth with the shaved ice. “Whoaaa, so good!” he exclaimed, closing his eyes and jumping on his toes. “Cold and sweet and yummmmm!”

He creaked his eyes open to see if the other two were enjoying themselves as much as he did, and stopped to gape at Yachi, who was still trying to reach into her left pocket with her right hand, and Kageyama, who was still holding the other two cups like a circus acrobat, seemingly ready to toss them up in the air at any notice.

“Why aren’t you eating it?” Hinata asked, tilting his head. “Yachi-san, you wanted strawberry, right?” He snatched the cup with pink shaved ice from Kageyama’s hand and handed it to her – with zero disasters on horizon this time. “Kageyama, are you okay with the blueberry? We can swap, if you want mine.”

“Swap?” Kageyama blinked at the cup in his hand, still clearly doubting its purpose.

“Yeah, no problem! Anyway, if I want another strawberry kakigori, I’ll just go to the nice old man who runs the stall,” Hinata grinned. “He’s never refused me a free helping or two.”

Yachi watched as Kageyama gave Hinata a long wide-eyed look and then turn his head to the side, raising the blueberry kakegori cup above his head in one swift motion.

“I’ll have this. No swapping,” he grunted, not looking at Hinata anymore.

Yachi put some of the sweet ice in her mouth and thought yes, this kakigori was the best summer dessert she had.

 

A few hours and several solid chances to make it to various shop-keeper’s little notebooks later, Kageyama-kun and Hinata were loudly debating where to go to set off the fireworks while Yachi was trying to assess the virtues of having one more candy apple on a decidedly full stomach. She was spared the actual decision-making, because someone in the crowd caught her attention.

“T-t-tiny Hinata-kun! Mini-Hinata!” she exclaimed, fascinated. The boys stopped and turned in the direction she was looking at, where a small child was giving them a peeved look of someone who didn’t want to be discovered and pointed at.

“No it’s not!” the boys reacted in unison and exchanged a silent look.

“It’s not Hinata,” Kageyama reaffirmed. “It’s a girl.”

“It’s my sister, duh!” Hinata rolled his eyes at waved at the kid to come closer. “What are you doing here, Natsu? Did you run off alone?”

“Of course not, nii-chan!” the tiny child – and Yachi gave herself a mental kick in the head for not noticing it was a girl sooner, despite the striking resemblance between the siblings – sniffed and looked at Hinata condescendingly. “I am here with Mai-chan and her nee-san. They are over there,” the girl pointed somewhere behind her.

“Do you want me to take you to them?” Hinata offered, taking her hand, but she pulled it away with all the self-importance a child could muster.

“Nii-chan, I’m big enough to find my way back. Goodbye, nii-chan’s friends!” she waved at them, and with one last scrutinizing look, quickly disappeared into the crowd.

“Mini-Hinata,” Yachi repeated once again under her breath, smiling.

* * *

Natsu strode back, huffing with indignation. What was nii-chan doing, dragging other people to his dates? Seriously, she watched them all day today, and he was completely hopeless. Next time, Natsu thought, she needed to be there in person to make sure the date was, well, a date.

And for that, she needed to make their home the base of her next operation.

And if she planned it all well, Natsu was sure she could find the time to try braiding nii-chan’s friend’s hair. The girl looked very nice already, but the other friend looked very promising. She smiled in anticipation, imagining how good her butterfly clips would look in Kageyama’s straight black hair.

 


End file.
